Dental implants offer many benefits: they improve your quality of life, look natural, function natural, promote jaw health, require no special care, and can last a lifetime. Plus, almost everyone is a candidate for them.
Dental Implants Improve Your Quality of Life
Quality of life is one of our ultimate goals at Advanced Dentistry of Butler. We want you to be happy with the results of your procedure, and to live a better life because of it. That’s why we are happy to offer dental implants, which numerous studies have shown to offer a better quality of life compared to dentures.
A recent study showed that people experience improved quality of life with dental implants. The areas impacted were extremely broad, and some of them were very surprising. Areas where patients experienced benefit include:
- Eating
- Speaking clearly
- Cleaning teeth
- Light physical activities
- Going shopping or other activities where we encounter people casually
- Smiling or laughing without shame
- Emotional conditions
- Enjoyable social communication
- Job-related activities
Some of these benefits are easy to understand, and we’ll talk about them more later, but it is surprising to see people feeling better with so many aspects of daily life. It definitely makes a strong case for dental implants.
In fact, some studies suggest that people with dental implants might actually have a better quality of life than the average person with natural teeth. This is not to say that people should replace their natural teeth with implants, but many people struggle with oral health problems before getting implants, and the improvement they experience when they do get implants probably makes them more appreciative of what they have.
Natural Appearance
An individual dental implant has the ability to look just like your natural teeth. The implant goes into your gums and jawbone just like a natural tooth, and, ideally, the gums cradle up around the implant, too. This leads to a highly natural appearance.
But you don’t have to take our word for it. When asked to rate the appearance of their dental implants on a scale of 1-100, patients gave a range of responses from 70-100, with an average of 96!
Function LIke Natural Teeth
Dental implants can function like natural teeth because they are like natural teeth in almost every way. Like natural teeth, they are secured in your jawbone, which supports them individually. People with dental implants have almost the same bite force as people with natural teeth.
Plus there’s no need for bulky support structures in the mouth, like denture bases, which can make you gag, interfere with speech, or irritate your cheek and gums.
Keep Your Jaw Strong
Like other bones in our body, the jaw responds to the demands of function and builds strength according to our needs. When a natural tooth is removed, the body senses that the stress on the jawbone decreases in that area, so it starts removing bone there, too. With dentures and even dental bridges, the area where the tooth is lost can lose most of its bone mass.
But dental implants are anchored in the bone so they stimulate the bone. As a result, the body retains the bone in the area.
Care for Them Like Teeth
Because dental implants are structured like teeth, you should care for them like natural teeth: brush, floss, and see your dentist for regular checkups. Sometimes, this isn’t exactly the same as for natural teeth–an implant is a little different to floss around, for example, and it might take a little bit of practice and different cleaners like an interdental brush or water flosser to get it right. But it’s substantially the same. Treat them like natural teeth and you’ll be happy with the results.
A Lifetime of Results
But perhaps the most exciting thing about dental implants is that they can last for a lifetime. We understand your suspicion if you’ve ever tried to redeem a “Lifetime Warranty” and found it expired, but here’s the straight truth on dental implants: studies show that more than 90% of them are still in place 20 or 30 years after placement. Some people have had implants for more than 50 years. We have no reason to believe that dental implants have a finite lifetime that is less than 30 years, though we may have to replace the dental crown occasionally.
Do You Need a Tooth Replacement in Butler?
If you live in or around Butler and you’re looking for the best tooth replacement option, consider dental implants at Advanced Dentistry of Butler.
To learn how we can help you, please call (724) 282-4436 today for an appointment with implant dentist Dr. Bob Fornalczyk at Advanced Dentistry of Butler.
